Saquon Barkley saw Giants fans burn his jersey. How that fueled his revenge in Eagles' win
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. − Saquon Barkley couldn't believe his eyes when the Eagles' team bus was maneuvering through the parking lot at MetLife Stadium hours before the game started.
There, out the window, he saw Giants fans pointing to the smoke emanating from his No. 26 Giants jersey burning in effigy.
"That was crazy," he said. "I’ve seen my jersey get burned before on social media. But the timing of it, I’m locked in, I’m listening to my music, and I see fans, and all I see is them pointing, and I’m like what are they pointing out?
"I see smoke, and see my jersey getting burned. That was definitely different. I don’t know if I ever experienced anything like that in my life, and hopefully I never experience anything like that again."
Here's how it fueled Barkley: "In that moment, I was ready for (anything)."
So the Eagles faced a 2nd-and-10 from their 26 early in the second quarter, after the Eagles had just completed their sixth straight game without scoring a single point in the first quarter. Barkley took the handoff and ran 55 yards down to the Giants' 19. He was clocked at 21.93 mph by NextGen Stats, the second fastest time by a ball-carrier this season.
Soon after, Barkley was in the end zone, and the Eagles were on their way to an easy 28-3 win over the Giants on Sunday.
Barkley added runs of 38 and 41 yards in the third quarter, setting up two more touchdowns.
In all, Barkley had 176 yards on 17 carries. Barkley could have had much more, but he sat out all but one play of the fourth quarter. Barkley certainly would have broken his personal high of 189 yards had he kept going, and likely would have challenged the Eagles' all-time record of 217 yards set by LeSean McCoy in 2013.
In fact, wide receiver A.J. Brown kept asking him "Why ain't you breaking (those records)?"
"He was OK not doing it," Brown said. "That shows what type of teammate he is, and what’s important."
Added Eagles coach Nick Sirianni: "He looked at me and he said − and this gives me chills to think about − ... ‘let the other guys eat.' I was like ‘You're special, dude.'"
By then, Barkley and the Eagles had long silenced the Giants crowd, who booed him every time he touched the ball until they were worn down, much like the Giants' vaunted defensive line.
Barkley showed that in the first quarter, when he caught a short pass along the sideline and literally ran over Dane Belton.
"Numbers don’t do it for me," Barkley said. "Of course, I want to be great and I’m all about my legacy, but at the end of the day, I’m all about the team."
The same was true of quarterback Jalen Hurts, who went 10-for-14 for 114 yards and a touchdown.
The Eagles improved to 4-2, as the defense continued its resurgence, going a second straight game without allowing a touchdown.
In fact, Barkley, with 187 total yards, outgained the Giants, who had just 119 yards. The Eagles had a season-high 8 sacks. They had only 6 through the first 4 games before getting 5 last Sunday against the Browns.
Defensive tackle Jalen Carter and linebacker Nakobe Dean each had 2 as beleaguered Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was 14-for-21 for 99 yards before being mercifully pulled in the fourth quarter.
It was quite a turnaround for an Eagles defense that had just 6 sacks through the first four games, but has 13 in the last two.
"I wouldn’t say (anything) changed," Carter said. "We’ve been playing football every week. It’s just our opportunity came today, and it showed. We just gotta move on to next week. It happened. I got 2 sacks, congratulations, whatever. It’s time to study and watch film for next week."
But as usual, the Eagles started slowly on offense.
The Eagles were the only NFL team to go scoreless in the first quarter through five games. Now, their streak is at 8 going back to last season, the third longest in team history.
The Eagles didn't come close to scoring in the first quarter on Sunday. They crossed midfield on their last possession, getting to the Giants' 48. But Barkley lined up in the wildcat formation, and lost 3 yards on second down. Then Hurts was sacked on third down.
Barkley had just 17 yards on 7 carries into the second quarter before he broke free for that 55-yard run. Barkley then capped the drive with a 3-yard TD run, giving the Eagles a 7-0 lead with 8:58 left in the second quarter.
A few minutes later, Hurts hit Brown from 41 yards out on 4th-and-3, giving the Eagles a 14-0 lead with 4:27 left. But Hurts only had to throw the ball 14 times as he had his second straight turnover-free game.
"You want to be able to win in multiple ways," Hurts said. "And as we continue to build, I think we’ll continue to see that even more. That’s what the good offenses have. They’re capable of doing both. They’re not one-dimensional. So we just want to continue to build our toolbox, build our portfolio, if you will, of what we can do."
Barkley, of course, is a big part of that. But so was Kenny Gainwell, who had 56 yards on 13 carries. And so was Brown, who had 5 catches for 89 yards.
Barkley capped his day with a 41-yard run to midfield late in the third quarter. Then he came out of the game as Gainwell took over. Hurts ended that drive with another tush-push touchdown on 4th-and-goal from the 1 with 11:26 left.
Then it was time for the reserves, as Barkley cheered from the sideline, content with his game against his former team, but mostly content with the victory.
It had been a long week for Barkley, with constant questions about facing his former team. Through it all, he insisted that he was treating it like any other game.
And then he saw his jersey getting burned in the parking lot.
"To be honest, I’m so happy this game is over," he said.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl, on Threads and Instagram @martinfrank1.